Man sentenced to 20 years to life in surfer's death

San Diego 
A man described in court as a bully who terrorized his community was sentenced Monday to 20 years to life in the death of a professional surfer, a crime that gained national notoriety as the Bird Rock Bandit case.

Seth Cravens, 23, was found guilty Nov. 18 of second-degree murder and other charges in the death of Emery Kauanui Jr., 24, of La Jolla.

Before the sentence was handed down Cravens, seated and dressed in green jail-issued clothing, turned to the packed courtroom and apologized.

“I just want to say sorry to Emery's family. I'm so sorry that this happened. Sorry for your loss,” he said. “I do pray that you find some kind of peace and comfort. I'm sorry for my own family . . . everybody that had to go through this with me. I'm really sorry.”

Kauanui died in a hospital four days after he and Cravens got into a fight in front of Kauanui's home on Draper Avenue around 1 a.m. on May 24, 2007.

Cravens and four other men had gone to the house, intent on retaliation, after Kauanui had spilled beer on one of the men earlier in the evening at the La Jolla Brew House and the two got into an argument.

Cravens punched Kauanui once in the jaw during the fight. Kauanui was knocked to the ground and suffered a fractured skull.

Kauanui's mother, Cindy, spoke to the court before the sentencing and recounted the New Year's Eve birth of her second son. Choking back tears, she said she fell instantly in love with him. She talked about chasing turtles and watching sunsets with him from their island home on Kauai when he was a boy.

She said he dreamed of one day opening a restaurant in Kauai that he planned to call “Emery's.” She said her son loved living, loved animals, surfing and his friends and family. “He knew the true meaning of aloha,” she said.

A video of Kauanui was played in court that showed pictures of an impish brown-haired smiling boy with his mother and brothers who grew to manhood surrounded by friends. Much of the footage was of Kauanui riding the waves, the last scene showed him paddling out.

The jury concluded that Cravens was guilty of “implied-malice murder,” which means that Craven was aware that his actions were dangerous but acted anyway.

He was also convicted of four counts of assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury and one misdemeanor battery, stemming from earlier offenses.

Eric House, Matthew Yanke and Orlando Osuna, who were also involved in the altercation, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. House, 21, and Yanke, 22, were both sentenced to 210 days in county jail.

Osuna, 23, was additionally convicted of battery and received 349 days in county jail.

Henri “Hank” Hendricks, 22, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and received a 90-day sentence.

All were placed on three years' probation.

Cravens' attorney, Mary Ellen Attridge maintained that her client was acting in self defense and she said after the trial that she would appeal the conviction. She had asked the judge to grant a new trial or to reduce the verdict to voluntary manslaughter, but the judge denied the motion, calling the attack on Kauanui “brutal, vicious and totally uncalled for.”